The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

Tian Guangming calmly took out a recorder, placed it in front of Chen Shi, and gently pressed the play button.

The voice of accountant Tian Defu came through.

"Who gave you permission to bring the villagers' fertilizer home?"

"I am the village party secretary and the head of the village committee. I can take the fertilizer anywhere."

"According to you, does that mean the director of the finance bureau can keep money in his own name?"

"That won't do."

"You know it's wrong. The fertilizer is given to the disaster-stricken villagers by the government. If you take it home, it's embezzling the fertilizer meant for the disaster-stricken villagers."

"I didn't. I just brought this fertilizer home and will ask the villagers to come and pick it up tomorrow or the day after."

"Can't the village committee store all this fertilizer? They're bringing it to your house. That's embezzlement. I'm going to report you to the county discipline inspection commission."

Chen Jianhua sounded flustered: "I didn't embezzle anything. Director Chen told me to take it home."

"That Director Chen?"

"My cousin, Director Chen Shi, if you're so capable, go find him."

Tian Guangming pressed the pause button and put the recorder away.

Chen Shi knew Chen Jianhua was stupid, but he didn't expect him to be this stupid. If his words were used by his political enemies, his career would probably be over.

His second brother, Chen Xing, had told him that when Chen Jianhua took office as the acting village party secretary, he became arrogant and disdainful of everyone, offending people everywhere.

Less than a month after taking office, he got into a fight with the accountant and clerk, physically assaulting both of them.

He had no idea who his opponent was. Chen Shi had reminded him more than once that by taking over as acting village party secretary from Tian Guangming, his real political enemy was Tian Guangming. He needed to win over and unite the other members of the village committee so that he could secure his position as village party secretary.

But what did he do? Without Tian Guangming lifting a finger, he started doing things on his own, offending everyone in the village committee and turning himself into a lonely figure.

Some people who were dissatisfied with Tian Guangming originally wanted to join him, but seeing how foolish he was, they all sided with Tian Guangming.

From the moment Chen Jianhua took office, Tian Guangming kept a close eye on his every move, giving Chen Jianhua plenty of face and acting like a grandson, letting him wield his official power.

They kept praising Chen Jianhua to the point of arrogance, making him think the village committee was his own home. Eventually, he couldn't distinguish between home and the village committee, which led him to do things like bringing the village committee's fertilizer home.

He struck swiftly, defeating his enemy in one move.

Tian Guangming had studied Sima Yi extensively. He learned that in many situations, one must be patient and wait for political enemies to expose their problems before launching a swift and decisive attack.

This trick worked wonders on Chen Jianhua.

Seeing that Chen Shi had nothing to say, Tian Guangming said softly, "Chief Chen, the main reason I came here to report this matter to you is that I'm afraid that if the villagers who are unaware of the situation find out about this, it will have an impact on you."

"Coming here pretending to be a good guy," Chen Shi asked calmly, "Uncle Tian, ​​what's your opinion on this matter?"

Tian Guangming said with a serious face, "This must be Secretary Chen talking nonsense. How could you possibly ask him to take the village committee's fertilizer to his own home?"

Chen Shi took out a pack of cigarettes from the drawer, pulled out two, handed one to Tian Guangming, lit one for himself, and took a puff.

"Uncle Tian, ​​Chen Jianhua called me about this last night, and I gave him a good scolding and told him to send the fertilizer back to the village committee."

Previously, I had no idea he would take the village committee's fertilizer home; I was completely unaware.

"Uncle believes you won't do this, that's why I came to inform you in advance to minimize the impact."

Regarding Chen Jianhua's appointment as acting village party secretary, I have exchanged opinions with the village committee members, and everyone agrees that he is not suitable.

Since he took office, he has argued with almost everyone in the village committee, except me.

"The village cadres cannot be united to better serve the villagers."

He took an application form out of his bag and placed it in front of Chen Shi.

All members of the Qinghe Village Committee applied to the town party committee to remove Chen Jianhua from his position as acting village party secretary, listing ten major crimes, including illegally processing minimum living allowance applications, intimidating villagers, and failing to unite village committee members.

All members of the Qinghe Village Committee signed and affixed their fingerprints to the document.

Tian Guangming showed no sign of pride, but said with a serious expression, "It was all a decision made by the village committee members. I think that since Chen Jianhua is Chen Suo's cousin, I should report it to you."

What does it mean to be enraged by both heaven and man? This is it: as soon as you take office, you offend everyone. Even if your father is Li Gang, you'll have to slink away in disgrace.

Chen Shi realized that appointing Chen Jianhua as the acting village party secretary was a terrible move. Not only did he fail to establish prestige, but he also squandered the prestige that the Chen family had painstakingly built up in Qinghe Village.

Tian Guangming has been so accommodating, yet he still refuses to back down. This old fox will definitely not let this go.

Chen Shi lit a cigarette and took a puff.

"Uncle Tian, ​​I also think that Chen Jianhua is not suitable to be the acting village party secretary. He will take the initiative to apply and resign from this position."

Tian Guangming nodded in satisfaction: "Leave this application with Director Chen, and also hand over this recording to Director Chen for processing."

I'm going to the credit union to withdraw some money, I'm leaving now. When I get home, I must visit my uncle's house.

"Okay, Uncle Tian, ​​I'll come to your house for a visit when you come back."

Chen Shi stood up and saw Tian Guangming off.

"Uncle Tian, ​​take care."

"Don't send it."

Chen Jianhua, that idiot, could never be a match for Tian Guangming. That old guy has a high level of political acumen. He remained calm and composed throughout the whole process, and his sense of propriety was excellent. Being a village head is a waste of his talents; he could easily be a section-level cadre.

Tian Guangming walked out of the office, not because he didn't want to kill Chen Shi, but because his strength wouldn't allow it.

Even if Chen Shi wasn't someone the county magistrate appreciated, his relationship with Mayor Li Hong made it impossible for him to do anything about it.

If this matter is reported, it involves Chen Shi, and Li Hong will definitely suppress it. Not only will he not be able to touch Chen Shi, but he will also offend him.

Chen Shi has plenty of ways to get himself involved. There are too many people in Qinghe Village who want to be the village head or village party secretary, and not all of them are as stupid as Chen Jianhua.

If Chen Shi only needs to support one capable person, he can have enough to live on.

A mature politician must unite all forces that can be united and must not offend a person with real power.

Especially someone like Chen Shi, whose career was so promising, should not be offended.

If you can't completely eliminate Chen Shi, you'll only be creating a political enemy for yourself. It's better to be a good person so that he at least won't hold a grudge against you.

Getting Chen Jianhua removed as acting village party secretary doesn't require recording; all it takes is the signatures of all village committee members, submitted to the town party committee, and that's it.

The higher-ups also have to consider the power of the masses. No matter how powerful your background is, if no one below you obeys you, the higher-ups also have to consider the political impact. If they take you down, it means you can't win the support of the people.

Tian Guangming was confident that as long as Chen Shi didn't interfere, Chen Jianhua would step down, and he would become the acting village party secretary and concurrently serve as the village director without any problem.

When the election comes, with his prestige in the village, he can remove the "acting" title and become the official village party secretary, the top leader of Qinghe Village. In this small area, he will still have the final say.

Feeling very pleased with himself, he strode out of the police station.